


Sore Throat

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-20 17:25:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16560083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex gets a sore throat, but still wants to perform.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the Nothing Personal era.

Nothing stopped Alex from getting on stage. Performing was something that he fell in love with, and he loved making his fans happy. He knew a lot of people used his music to escape reality, and something as simple as a concert had a deeper meaning to them. When he woke up one morning on the bus, one of his least favorite things happened: His throat was extremely sore. He didn’t really feel sick aside from that, but he was still annoyed about it. He said something to himself quietly to test out his voice. His voice did sound a bit messed up, but he was more concerned about how much it had hurt his throat to talk, especially since he had talked very quietly. He hoped that it would go away throughout the day. Deciding he should get up, he got out of his bunk, and walked into the front lounge of the bus. Jack, Rian, and Zack were all already out there, eating breakfast.   
“Look who finally decided to get up,” Jack teased.  
“It’s only a bit after eleven, but it’s just funny how you’re always the last one to get up,” Rian added.  
“I can’t believe you guys still get surprised by this,” Alex rasped. He didn’t think that his voice would sound that bad when he talked.  
“Woah Alex, you don’t sound good, are you sick?” Zack asked, concern growing in all three of them.  
“I don’t think so, it’s only my throat that feels off,” Alex explained.   
“We can cancel tonight since it’s still early enough, you probably need to rest your voice,” Jack said. Alex knew that this was probably the best idea, and that he should rest his voice. Singing every night for ninety minutes could take a toll on anyone’s voice. But he wasn’t about to, they only had four more shows to play until their first leg of tour ended, and they were going to have a little over a week off at the beach together. Right after that trip, the second leg of the tour would start.   
“No way, I don’t want to cancel,” Alex finally replied.  
“Alex, Jack has a point, your voice probably really needs to rest if this is happening,” Rian said.  
“I’ll rest it up after these next four shows. The time off we have will probably be enough time. I’ll be fine until then” Alex said, trying to hide a grimace. Every word he’d said had stung his throat, but he didn’t want his bandmates to know that, at least not yet.  
“Alex, it’s just one show, we can always reschedule,” Zack tried.  
“Not to the fans it’s not, you guys know that,” Alex replied. The other three knew how much Alex loved their fans, and how he always put them first, no matter what.  
“Okay, we won’t cancel, but you’re on vocal rest until tonight,” Jack declared.  
“Okay fine,” Alex replied.  
“Alex!” Jack exclaimed as soon as Alex spoke. Alex threw his hands up in defense, then started to make himself some honey and lemon tea. This was his go to whenever his throat or voice was messed up. Once it was finished, Alex sat on the couch in the front, and went through some stuff on his phone. He was dreading not being able to talk, not that he was the most talkative person, it was just annoying not being able to at all.  
“Alex, I’m going to get you a whiteboard for if you need to communicate something,” Rian said, getting up and walking towards the bunks. A few seconds later, he came back with a small whiteboard and marker, which he gave to Alex.   
“Whenever you need to say something, just use this,” Rian explained. Alex wrote something on the board, then handed it to Rian.  
“’No shit’, that’s a bit harsh, Alex,” Rian said.  
“Are you being pissy because we won’t let you talk?” Jack asked, walking over to where Rian and Alex were. Alex erased the board, then wrote something new on it.  
“’Yes, I think you guys are blowing this out of proportion’,” Jack read.  
“Guys, if he really wants to talk, just let him. He can learn this the hard way,” Zack suggested.  
“Thank you, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to the back lounge,” Alex said, walking past his bandmates. He knew that this was all because they cared about him, but he knew how to handle himself.  
\------  
A few hours had passed, and they’d arrived at the venue. Alex had spent most of the day in the back lounge, aside from the times that he’d gone to the front to make more tea for himself. He’d had about five cups throughout the day, as well as some hot soup. They knew they had to do soundcheck as soon as they got there. They went a bit faster than normal, in attempt to help Alex not harm his voice even more. Once it was over, they had about an hour until the show started, and Alex spent this time in one of the green rooms. He did as many home remedies for his throat as he could think of that he usually used, but it didn’t help as much, since his throat hurt significantly more this time. Once it was about time for the show, he walked over to the stage entrance and found his band already there.  
“Are you sure, Alex?” Jack asked, pulling Alex to the side.  
“I’m sure, it’s only four more shows,” Alex replied. Just saying that sentence made his throat hurt more, but he didn’t care. He wanted to give the fans what they came to see.  
“It’s time!” the stage tech announced. They all ran up with their instruments and took their places. The show went well for the most part. There were some notes that Alex couldn’t hit, but luckily his bandmates knew that would happen, so Jack and Zack made up for it. Towards the end, singing was causing Alex a lot of pain, more than the first part of the show. He winced quite a bit during the final song, but he got through it, which was all he cared about. They all thanked the crowd before running off stage.  
“How do you feel, Alex?” Jack asked him privately.  
“It hurts a lot, but I’m okay. I’m going to have more tea when we get back on the bus,” Alex explained, before letting out a cough, which made his throat feel like it was on fire.  
“Take some painkillers, too, that way you won’t feel so miserable,” Jack suggested. Jack hated knowing that his best friend was in so much pain, he wished that he could make it go away for Alex.   
“I’ll definitely do that,” Alex replied. There was a brief moment of silence. “Hey, thanks for earlier,”  
“What do you mean?” Jack asked.  
“When I was being an ass earlier. I know that you were just trying to help me feel a bit better,” Alex explained.  
“You mean when I told you not to talk, and about rescheduling tonight?” Jack asked, for clarification.  
“Yeah, all of that. I’m sorry for how I reacted. I guess I was just frustrated about my voice, and took it out on you and the others,” Alex explained.  
“It’s okay, Alex. We all know you were stressed about it. We want to help you be able to perform your best, because you’re pretty great when you do,” Jack said, making Alex smile.  
“I do really appreciate it, and I’m going to act like that for however much longer my voice is messed up,” Alex promised.  
“Good, now let’s get you back on the bus so you can drink some tea, then sleep. You should try to sleep as much as possible right now,” Jack explained.  
“Sounds good to me,” Alex said, before coughing.  
“Are you okay?” Jack asked, putting his hand on Alex’s back.  
“Yeah, all good,” Alex replied before walking over to the bus. Once they were on, Jack helped Alex make some tea, then they watched some TV in the back lounge. Once his tea was gone, he decided to go on to bed. When he woke up the next morning, Alex noticed that his throat felt a bit sorer than it had the day before. He decided to keep it to himself, since he was still set on not canceling. He got out of his bed, and saw that Jack was the only other person up.  
“How’re you feeling?” Jack asked as soon as he saw Alex.  
“About the same as yesterday,” Alex replied, his voice raspier than the day before.  
“Really? Your voice sounds a bit worse,” Jack observed.  
“I don’t think that I’m going to talk a lot today,” Alex decided.   
“I think that’s a good idea. Are you sure that you can do three more nights of shows in a row?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah, I don’t want to reschedule. We’re so close to the leg ending, and I want to make the fans happy,” Alex confirmed. Alex always put the fans before himself, because he had so much love for them.  
“Okay, just try not to talk too much today,” Jack replied.  
“I won’t. I’m going to make some tea, then watch some TV in the back,” Alex decided.  
“Okay, sounds good. I’ll tell Rian and Zack that you’re not going to talk for a bit, so you can save your voice,” Jack said. Alex gave him a thumbs up, then made his tea. He walked to the back and set up the TV. Seconds later, Rian and Zack came to the front where Jack was.  
“Is Alex up yet?” Rian asked, getting a bowl of cereal.  
“Yeah he is. His voice sounds a bit worse than it did yesterday. He decided that he’s not going to talk until we get to the venue later,” Jack explained.  
“Did he say how his throat felt?” Zack asked.  
“He said it felt the same as yesterday, but I think he just said that, because it looked like it hurt him some to talk,” Jack replied.  
“He’s still wants to perform tonight like this?” Rian asked.  
“You already know the answer to that,” Jack said, making the other two roll their eyes.  
“We have three more shows, then a little over a week off. He’ll probably make it worse in these next three nights, but hopefully the time off will help him heal, and he’ll be okay when we start back up,” Jack explained.  
“So, you’re defending this?” Rian asked.  
“Hell no, but we might as well see it that way, because there’s no way that he’s going to change his mind,” Jack said. Rian and Zack knew he had a point. They got their breakfast and sat with Jack, turning on the TV to pass the time.  
\------  
A few hours later, they were at the venue. Alex had been in the back all day, keeping to himself. Over the day, he’d developed a cough, which he hoped that no one heard. He also felt some congestion in his head, but he wasn’t too concerned about that. Before getting off the bus, he threw away the tissue pile he’d made throughout the day. They made their soundcheck short again for Alex. Once they were finished, Alex went to a green room, and sat on his phone until there were twenty minutes until showtime. He got ready, then got some water. The water hurt going down his throat, but he just sucked it up. He walked over to the stage area, and only Jack was there so far.  
“How’re you feeling?” Jack asked.  
“As good as I’m going to be,” Alex replied, coughing.  
“If it starts to hurt a lot, tell me or Zack,” Jack instructed.  
“I will,” Alex replied. A couple minutes later, Rian and Zack walked over to them, right before they were prompted to go onstage. They began their set right after going on. Jack could tell that singing was hurting Alex’s throat, but nothing could be done at this point. Despite feeling terrible, Alex sounded pretty good. The last song they had was Dear Maria. Alex usually involved the crowd in it but did this more than usual this time. Once they were done, they thanked the crowd, then ran offstage. Alex immediately began coughing, and a crew member gave him a water bottle.  
“Thank you,” Alex told him in a very hoarse voice. Rian walked over to him.  
“Are you alright?” he asked, sounding concerned.  
“Yeah, I’m okay, my voice is just tired,” Alex explained, before coughing again. Rian rubbed his back until the fit passed.  
“Let’s get you back on the bus so you can rest,” Rian suggested.  
“Want me to make you some tea?” Jack asked, walking over to the two of them.  
“Yeah, that’d be great, thank you,” Alex replied. The three of them walked over to the bus and got on.   
“Where’s Zack?” Rian asked.  
“Helping the crew some, I think,” Jack said while making Alex’s tea. Once it was finished, he gave it to Alex, who drank all of it in just minutes.   
“I’m going to head to bed. Goodnight, and thank you for helping me,” Alex said getting up.  
“No problem, feel better,” Rian replied.  
“Sleep well,” Jack added. Alex got into bed and tried to drift off to sleep. Throughout the night, Alex could hardly sleep, because he kept coughing, and was so congested that he was having trouble breathing, which meant that he had to keep blowing his nose. When he finally decided to get out of bed the next day, it was about two in the afternoon. He was exhausted, he was extremely congested, and his throat felt even worse. He walked to the front like he’d done the previous mornings.  
“You’re finally up!” Rian observed.  
“How’re you feeling?” Jack asked.  
“I’ve been better,” Alex rasped, before coughing.  
“You sound like shit,” Zack stated.  
“Thanks, asshole,” Alex replied, causing Jack and Rian to send Zack glares.  
I’m going to the back like yesterday,” Alex said, preparing yet another cup of tea.  
“Sounds good, feel better buddy,” Jack said. Alex gave him a thumbs up before heading to the back of the bus.  
“He’s getting worse,” Rian observed.  
“Luckily, there’s only two more shows,” Jack replied, feeling very concerned for his best friend. Later, when they arrived at the venue, they did a full soundcheck, because Alex stayed on vocal rest during it. Alex felt pretty miserable, so he didn’t try to argue this. When they were done, Alex went back to a green room. Since he was exhausted from his night of almost no sleep, he decided to try taking a nap. He laid on the couch, and closed his eyes, and eventually fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

“Alex, wake up,” Jack said, shaking Alex.   
“What?” Alex asked before coughing.  
“We go on in ten minutes,” Jack replied.  
“Shit,” Alex said, getting up. Jack helped him get ready, then they walked over to where the stage entrance was.  
“It took you guys long enough,” Zack remarked.  
“Alex overslept, but we’re here now,” Jack replied. Alex burst into a coughing fit, and Jack rubbed his back until it went away.   
“It’s time!” the stage tech exclaimed. The four of them all ran onstage and took their positions. Alex was still worn out from not sleeping much the night before, and all the other stuff that was wrong with him, so he knew that he had a very long night ahead of him. Throughout the night, Zack and Jack had to help Alex a lot more than they thought they would have to. Right before their last song, Alex started speaking.  
“Can all of you guys give these two next to me some love? My voice is a bit messed up right now, and I wouldn’t be able to be out here right now if it weren’t for them,” Alex said, making the crowd cheer.  
“How sweet, dude. Now, we’ve got one more song and it goes like this!” Jack said, starting into Dear Maria. Once the song was over, they all thanked the crowd, and ran offstage. For one of the very first times in the history of the band, Alex was very happy that the concert was over. Normally, he’d want to be out there with the fans all night, but right now, he wanted nothing more to be in his bed.  
Three down, one to go, he thought to himself. Jack walked over to where Alex was.  
“You did well,” Jack said, trying to make his friend feel better. Everyone knew that when Alex felt sick and went onstage, he could be a bit too hard on himself for how he sounded.  
“I sounded like shit,” Alex replied, before coughing.  
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. If I were in your position, I don’t think I could perform,” Jack replied.  
“You’re not the lead singer,” Alex argued.  
“I know, but if I did have to sing, there’s no way I could get up on that stage feeling like you do,” Jack countered.  
“Yeah, because you’re a baby when you’re sick,” Alex laughed.  
“Are you really going to waste what little voice you have left to insult me?” Jack questioned, making both of them smile.  
“Of course,” Alex said with a laugh. The laughter quickly turned into coughing, and Jack rubbed his friend’s back until the fit went away.  
“Let’s get you back to the bus,” Jack said, before doing his best to help Alex onto the bus. Once they got on, they saw Rian and Zack.  
“We made you some soup and tea, Alex,” Rian said.  
“Thanks, guys,” Alex said with a smile. He really did have the best friends.   
“While Alex eats, let’s talk about break,” Rian said.  
“What about break?” Zack asked.  
“Dates,” Rian replied simply.  
“Well, tomorrow is Tuesday, and after the show tomorrow, we’re getting driven to the place we’re staying at on the beach, and we’ll leave it the following Thursday morning,” Jack explained.  
“Are we going to be in a hotel room? No way that’ll be big enough for all four of us,” Zack added.  
“It’s going to be a suite style so it’s like two bedrooms with two beds I think,” Jack replied.  
“Oh shit, I didn’t know that,” Zack said.  
“I forgot about that, we’ve been too busy, my brain isn’t working,” Rian said, making the three of them laugh.  
“This soup is really good, thanks you guys,” Alex said once they stopped laughing.  
“No problem, buddy,” Zack replied. Once Alex was done, he put his dishes into the sink.  
“I’m going to try to sleep now, goodnight guys,” Alex said walking towards the bunks. The other three said goodnight to him. Alex climbed into his bunk, and let sleep take over his body.  
\-------  
A few hours later, Alex woke back up due to a pain in his stomach. He looked at his phone and saw that it was about three in the morning. He held his stomach, grimacing at the pain. Seconds later, the pain got more intense, so Alex got up and walked over to the small bus bathroom. He locked and shut the door, then sat down in front of the toilet. Not much later, he got sick, which hurt his throat even more. When he was done, he took his temperature. The thermometer read 100.6. even though he felt significantly worse, he knew that he couldn’t tell his bandmates. They only had one more show left, and there was no way that he was going to ruin it. If he said something about this, there’s no way they’d let him perform. Deciding that going back to bed would be best, he left the bathroom, and fell asleep shortly after.  
\-------  
The next morning, Alex woke up still feeling terrible. He looked at his phone for the time and saw that it was already three in the afternoon. He got out of his bunk and found Jack in the front.  
“How’re you feeling?” Jack asked.  
“Pretty bad,” Alex said, his voice the worst it’d been since his throat started hurting days ago. He had a small coughing fit, and Jack walked over to him, and rubbed his back.  
“Alex, you feel really warm, are you alright?” Jack questioned. Alex didn’t see any point in lying to Jack, since it was all obvious at this point.  
“I have a fever now. I got sick in the middle of the night,” Alex explained, wincing as he spoke.  
“Shit, I wish we didn’t have to perform tonight. You got so much worse in such a short period of time,” Jack observed.  
“I’ll be okay, it’s just one more show. Then, I can rest up. Oh, and can you not tell the other two about the fever thing until after the show tonight?” Alex requested.  
“Okay, I won’t, because I know that you don’t want them to freak out. But I’m telling them right after the show, okay? I don’t want to keep secrets and shit,” Jack explained.  
“Okay, sounds good to me. Now, I’d do this myself, but I really don’t have the energy, Jack, can you make me some tea?” Alex asked, coughing after.  
“Sure. By the way, how do you think you got so sick so fast?” Jack asked.  
“I was really tired all day yesterday, I didn’t sleep much the night before because I was up all-night coughing for the majority of the night,” Alex explained.  
“So, you basically overworked yourself. Please just rest up until we get to the venue, we’ll be there in a couple of hours,” Jack said.  
“Okay, I will. Where is Zack and Rian?” Alex asked.  
“In the back, they’re playing something on the Xbox,” Jack answered.  
“Oh okay, I’m going to stay up here with you then,” Alex decided.  
“Okay, sounds good to me. Here’s your tea,” Jack said, handing Alex a mug then sitting down next to him.  
“Thank you for helping me, you’re a really good friend,” Alex said, shivering.  
“I’ll always be here. By the way, let me get you a blanket, I can see you’re shivering,” Jack said, before going to the bunks, and getting the blanket from Alex’s bed.  
“Thank you,” Alex said, as Jack put the blanket on top of him. Alex drank up his tea, then drifted off to sleep next to Jack.  
\-------  
A couple hours later, Alex felt someone shake him.  
“Alex, wake up,” he heard a voice say.  
“What is it?” Alex asked, rubbing his eyes.  
“We’re at the venue, you have to wake up,” Jack said, still shaking him.  
“How long was I asleep?” Alex asked, starting to sit up.  
“A couple of hours. Rian and Zack are already inside of the venue, and we have soundcheck in about fifteen minutes,” Jack explained.  
“I don’t feel good,” Alex said, holding his stomach. Seconds later, he bolted up, and ran to the bathroom. Jack followed quickly, and saw Alex already getting sick. He kneeled next to him and rubbed his back until he was done.  
“I hate this,” Alex said, leaning up against Jack.  
“I know, luckily in five hours, you can just relax again, and you’ll have a little over a week to rest up before we start touring again,” Jack pointed out.  
“That’s true. I think I’m done, let’s go on in, I guess,” Alex decided. Jack helped Alex up, and the two of them walked in just in time to start soundcheck. They kept it short again, then Alex went to the green room. He laid on the couch that turned out to not be very comfortable. Not too much longer, he was out.  
\------  
Alex woke up about an hour and a half later to Jack shaking him awake.  
“We’ve got to get you ready to go onstage, buddy,” Jack said. Alex sat up, yawning.   
“After this show, you can just rest and recover from this. You can do this, and me and Zack can help you, so don’t worry about anything,” Jack said.  
“Thank you. I know that I probably should’ve just not sang that first day, you guys were right, but I appreciate you being so kind,” Alex replied, coughing.  
“Of course, due. Now, let’s get you ready,” Jack said, helping Alex up. He helped Alex look slightly less sick, then they walked over to the stage entrance.  
“Alright boys, only one more show until we can relax at the beach!” Rian exclaimed, making Jack and Zack look very excited. Alex felt a bit sad when he realized that he’d be laying around, doing nothing, while his best friends were having a great time on vacation. As Alex tried to take his mind off it, the stage manager walked over to them.  
“It’s time guys!” he exclaimed. The four of them ran onstage and took their spots. Jack talked to the crowd and got them even more excited. They started their first song, which was Lost In Stereo. Singing just that one song made Alex’s throat burn, but he knew that he had to push through it. This was their last show for a bit more than a week, and he didn’t want to let the fans down. If he was being honest, he cared more about making the fans happy than his own health in that moment. Some people may not have the opportunity to see them in concert again, and he didn’t want to be a disappointment. For the first half of the show, only his throat and voice were a problem. In the second half, he started to feel really sick. Jack and Zack were exchanging some banter when he knew that he couldn’t handle it anymore.   
“I’ll be right back!” Alex said into the mic, before running offstage. Luckily, they all knew how to stall the crowd in situations like this. With Alex’s terrible immune system, this certainly wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened. When Alex was offstage, a crew member immediately handed him a bucket. Seconds later, he got sick into it. A couple minutes later, Alex decided that he was done.  
“I hate to say this, but you have to go back out there,” the crew member told Alex. He just nodded, then walked back on.  
“Look who’s finally back!” Jack said, making the crowd cheer.  
“Now, where were we?” Zack asked. Jack started playing Damned If I Do Ya. The acid from being sick made Alex’s throat hurt even more, making singing much more painful. When it was time for them to play their last song, Alex was relieved. He sang it as best he could, and had the crowd help quite a bit. When they were done, they thanked the audience, then ran offstage.   
“Alex, why didn’t you tell us you were that sick?” Rian asked.  
“Didn’t want to cancel,” Alex rasped, coughing.  
“I don’t know how you did it, but you made it through these four shows,” Zack stated.  
“Alex come over here,” Jack said, pulling him to the side.  
“What?” Alex asked, before sneezing.  
“I arranged for a doctor to be back here right after the show, so we could take care of everything quickly. I told him what I thought you might have already, but I still want him to take a look at you,” Jack explained.   
“Okay, as long as it’s fast, I just want to go on the bus and sleep,” Alex replied.  
“It will be, don’t worry. He’s already in the green room,” Jack said, leading the two of them over to where the doctor was.  
“How’re you doing, Alex?” the doctor asked as Alex sat on the couch next to him.  
“I’ve been better,” Alex replied.  
“So, how did all of this start?” the doctor asked. Alex opened his mouth to reply but burst into a coughing fit instead.  
“I’ll take it from here, buddy. About four days ago, Alex woke up with a sore throat and his voice was a bit hoarse. We only had these last four shows until we got a bit of a break, so Alex wanted to push through them. He didn’t sleep a lot the second night and overworked himself on the third day. He woke up with a fever today, and has gotten sick a few times,” Jack explained.  
“Well, it sounds like the past few days have been a bit rough. Can you open your mouth, so I can take a look at your throat?” the doctor asked. Alex did what he was asked.  
“Well, your friend was right, it looks like you have laryngitis. It’s less extreme than it could be, but still must be taken care of properly. For the next forty-eight hours, you need to be on total vocal rest, no talking at all. For five days, just rest and let your body heal. Take fever reducers, that’ll help the fever go away faster. Drink fluids, water is good, so are hot drinks. Use your break from tour to take it easy. If you do this, you’ll be well in time for the next part of your tour. Jack has my contact information for if something happens. Rest up and feel better soon,” the doctor explained. He then got up and walked out.  
“Let’s get you back on the bus,” Jack said, helping Alex up.   
“I won’t talk after this until the forty-eight hours are up, but thank you, Jack. I kind of thought it was laryngitis too, but thank you for taking care of me, it means a lot,” Alex said, coughing.  
“No problem, I couldn’t just let you be miserable. I’m glad that I could help. I’m glad you’re finally getting a break, you really need it. When we get on, I’ll give you some meds, then you can sleep,” Jack explained.  
“This is going to sound weird, but can you sleep in the back with me? I feel really sick and don’t want to be alone right now,” Alex explained.  
“Sure thing, dude,” Jack replied. Alex just smiled as a thank you. The two of them walked over to the bus, then got on. While Alex changed into his PJs, Jack made him some tea, and got some medicine. Once he had everything, he brought his pillow and blanket from his bunk to the back. Alex was already snuggled into his blanket, putting something on the TV.   
“Here, take these, and I made you some tea to help your throat,” Jack said, handing Alex everything. Alex grabbed the whiteboard from a few days before, and quickly wrote something on it. Once he was done, he gave it to Jack.  
“’Thank you for everything, I really appreciate it, you’re the best’” Jack read. Alex gave him a small smile.  
“No problem, Alex. I’ll help you feel better until this shit goes away. I’m going to turn the lights off, so we can get some sleep,” Jack said, shutting off the lights. He sat back down, and let Alex snuggle into his side. Just minutes later, Alex was asleep. Jack noticed this and turned off the TV. Not much later, he was asleep, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second part! I looked over the whole story, and decided that it would be three parts, so this will have one more chapter. It should be up soon! I hope you guys liked this chapter, and are excited for the third! I think it wraps everything up nicely. This chapter was longer than I anticipated, but I hope you guys liked that. Leave requests in the comments if you have them!  
> Lots of love,  
> Liv


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Jack awoke to the alarm that he’d set on his phone the night before. Alex was still totally asleep next to him. Jack looked out the window, and saw that they were minutes away from the hotel that they were staying at. He began to lightly shake Alex.  
“Alex, I need you to wake up now. Don’t talk, but wake up now, okay?” Alex started to stir awake, slowly but surely.  
“We’re about five minutes away from the hotel that we’re staying at, which means that we have to get off the bus soon. I’ll carry in whatever stuff you want to take in,” Jack explained. Alex grabbed the white board that was still next to him, and started to write on it.  
“’Sounds good to me, I appreciate it. Sorry I ruined our vacation. I’m annoyed at myself because I’ve been excited for this, and now I’m sick and can’t talk, and this just sucks,’” Jack read. He looked at Alex, who was starting to tear up some. Whenever he got really sick, his emotions tended to skyrocket. Jack wrapped his arms around his sick friend.  
“Alex, don’t be mad at yourself. You didn’t ruin anything for me or Rian and Zack. We’re all still going to be together, it’ll just be in a different way. Tomorrow night, you can officially talk again. It’s just today and some of tomorrow you can’t. none of us are mad at you, we just want you to get better. We’ll do what needs to be done, so when we play again, you’ll sound good like usual,” Jack explained. He gave Alex a big, tight hug, which Alex returned.  
“We need to go into the hotel now. Rian and Zack are going to help me get our stuff, so we just have to go,” Jack helped Alex up, and they walked off the bus, and into the hotel. They went up to the second floor, and walked in. The other two were already in the living room area, sitting on the couch.  
“So, there’s two rooms that share a bathroom. It’s kind of like a suite style dorm,” Rian explained.  
“Okay, how’re we rooming?” Jack asked.  
“We put you and Alex into one of the rooms, so you can help him. He likes you best when he’s sick,” Zack explained, making Alex blush.  
“Okay, sounds good, I’ll go set him up in there,” Jack said.  
“Sounds good. Can you be ready in twenty?” Rian asked. It was obvious that he really wanted to get to the beach.  
“Yeah, I’ll meet you out here then,” Jack replied. The two of them nodded, then Jack took Alex to their room. He set Alex up in one of the beds, and made sure that he was comfortable.  
“Is this okay?” Jack asked. Alex nodded in reply.  
“Okay, good. I really hate to leave you like this. I don’t want to not be here if you need something,” Alex immediately began to write on his whiteboard.  
“’Go on, don’t worry about me, I’ll probably just be asleep for the majority of the time you’re gone, anyway. Maybe we can hang out later, even though I’ll probably be pretty boring like this,’” Jack read.  
“We can definitely do something later. Maybe the four of us can all watch a movie together in the living room. That TV out there looked pretty sweet,” Jack suggested, making Alex smile. He mouthed thank you.  
“No problem. Now, rest up becasuwe we need you to get better, and I hope that you do before this trip ends, so you can enjoy it, too,” Jack explained. They smiled at each other one more time, then Jack got himself ready. Once he was done, he walked out to the living room, where Rian and Zack were already sitting, ready to go. They walked to the beach, which was only about five minutes away from the hotel that they were stayihg at. They set themselves up in a spot near the ocean.  
“How’s he doing?” Zack asked.  
“About the same as yesterday. I think the fact that he’s not going to talk today or tomorrow, and spend most of those days sleeping is a really good thing,” Jack explained.  
“Yeah, that’s true. Do you think he’ll be well by the time we play again?” Zack asked.  
“Definetely, he’s not going to talk, and sleep for most of at least these next few days. I think that’ll really help. I even think that he might be able to come to the beahc with us the last couple days we’re here,” Jack said.  
“Oh okay, that’s good. He was really struggling last night,” Rian pointed out.  
“Yeah, he should be all good this time next week,” Jack replied. They all took turns going into the ocean, and just relaxing on the shore. Eventyaloy, they decided to head home and check on Alex.   
“By the way, I promised him that the four of us would all watch a movie together tonight. Since it’s early, you two can still do something after if you want,” Jack said.  
“You won’t come with us?” Zack asked.  
“Nah, I promised him that I’d hang out with him. He feels really bad about being sick right now, so I want to help him have some fun today,” Jack explained.  
“Oh, okay, I’m glad you’re going to do that, since he always gets emotional when he’s really sick,” Rian said. They walked inside the hotel, and up to their room. Jack walked into his shared room, and saw Alex awake and on his phone.   
“Hey, how’re you feeling?” Jack asked. Alex wrote on the whiteboard again.  
“’ I’ve definitely been better, but not as bad as before. Not talking helped I think,’” Jack read.  
“Good, let’s take your temperature,” Jack said, grabbing the thermometer.  
“100.2, not as bad as before. The other two are ready to watch a movie if you’re up to it,” Jack said. Alex gave him a thumbs up, and got out of bed. They got to the living room, and Alex turned on the TV in search of a movie. He ended up picking the first Harry Potter movie. Being with everyone made Alex feel really happy for the first time in a couple of days. Eventuyall, Alex fell asleep with his head on Jack’s shoulder.  
\-------  
“Are you ready to talk again, Alex?” Jack asked his best friend. It was the next night, and Jack had stayed with Alex all day. He didn’t want to leave him all alone for two days in a row. Alex nodded in reply to Jack.  
“Okay, if you know what you want to say, go on and do it,” Jack prompted.  
“Thank you for helping me,” Alex said, his voice soindkng a lot better. It even sounded better than it did the first day that his throat started hurting.  
“You sound a lot better!” Jack exclaimed, making Alex smile. Alex was very happy that he had the best friend ever, and that he was finally starting to get better.  
\-------  
It was their final day at the beach before they were going back out on the road. Alex woke up, feeling the most normal that he’d felt in almost two weeks. He got out of bed, and walked into the living room.  
“How’re you doing, Alex?” Rian asked when he saw Alex walk in.  
“For the first time in what feels like forever, pretty good,” Alex replied.  
“Are you going to the beach today then?” Zack asked.  
“Hell yeah!” Alex replied.  
“Go get ready then,” Jack said. The four of them enjoyed their beach day, and Alex was glad that he could have fun with his friends again. Alex went to sleep that that night, feeling excited for the show they had the next day.  
\-------  
The next morning, Alex woke up to Jack shaking him.  
“We have to go back on the bus, are you ready?” Jack asked. Alex rolled over, and got out of bed.  
“Where’s my stuff?” Alex asked.  
“Rian just put it on the bus for you. We put our stuff out there like twenty minutes ago, but we didn’t wake you because we wanted to let you sleep for as long as possible,” Jack explained.  
“Oh okay, thank you. I’m ready to get on then” Alex replied. The two of them got on the bus, and it started to move shortly after.  
“So, we’ll be on the bus for about four hours, then we’ll be at the venue. Alex, can you do a full soundcheck, or do you want it to be a bit shorter like we’ve been doing?” Rian asked.  
“I feel totally fine now, so we can do a normal one now,” Alex replied.  
“Sounds good. We’re all really glad you’re feeling better now, Alex. It’s more fun to perform when one of us isn’t dying,” Zack said.  
“Hey, I wasn’t dying!” Alex defended himself, laughing.  
“You were pretty damn close, dude,” Jack commented.  
“Oh, shut up. All that matters, is that I’m fine now. I’m excited to finally be back on tour now, because the last few shows we did were pretty hard for me,” Alex admitted.  
“Well, you sound a lot better, so tonight should be more fun for all of us,” Rian added.  
“Let’s all relax until we get to the venue. When we get there, we’ll jump right into soundcheck,” Jack explained. They all got up, and went their separate ways. The four hours went by pretty fast. The first show after a vacation could be hard sometimes, so they always made sure to relax a lot before it. When they got to the venue, they got out of the bus, and went onstage to do soundcheck. Alex did the whole thing easily, and sounded really good. When they were done, the four of them all hung out together like they normally did while waiting for the show to start. Alex had missed spending this time with his best friends from the past few shows, and was glad he could do it again. when it was about time to go on, the four of them walked to the stage entrance.  
“Alright guys, it’s the first night of this leg. Alex is finally okay again, and this show is going to be awesome!” Jack exclaimed.  
“Thank you guys for helping me while I wasn’t doing well. I’m glad that I’m finally normal again. Let’s do this!” Alex said back. The stage tech told them that it was time for them to go on, so they ran on and took their places.  
“How’s everyone doing tonight?” Alex asked into the microphone, earning screams from the crowd.  
“Good, good. Now, I’ve been pretty sick for the past few shows that we’ve had, and this is the first one in a while that I’ve finally felt good for, so let’s make tonight awesome!” Alex exclaimed, making the fans scream louder. The whole set went really well for all of them, and Alex was glad to finally feel well again. Performing was definitely more fun when you’re feeling well. When they were done, they thanked the crowd, and ran offstage. Rian and Zack got right onto the bus, but Alex pulled Jack over to the side.  
“Thank you for helping me when I was sick, I really appreciate it. The shows I was sick for would’ve been a lot shittier if you weren’t there to help me,” Alex said.  
“No problem, man. Next time though, don’t push yourself too hard. That could’ve been a lot worse than it was, and I don’t want that to happen to you,” Jack replied.  
“I won’t. You’re the best though,” Alex said, smiling.  
“We should get on the bus. But, anytime dude,” Jack replied. The two of them got on the bus and sat with Rian and Zack. They talked about the highs and lows of the show they’d just played. Everntualy, they all got tired, and decided to go to sleep. Alex got into his bunk, and snuggled into his blanket. He was very happy. They’d just played a great show, and he was finally better. He knew that he really did have the best friends and bandmates that anyone could ask for. He fell asleep, feeling extremely lucky to have the life that he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this story is complete now! I hope you guys liked it! I have a few more that will be in parts, and I just have to figure out how to break them down so I can post them. I hope that you all liked this story, and definitely send in requests if you have them!  
> Lots of love,  
> Liv

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I decided that for now, I'm only going to post this story here, it's going to have 3 or 4 parts in total, so for now it's just going to live on here. I'll get the other parts up as soon as possible. I wrote this in January of 2018. I loved it when I wrote it, which is why I'm posting it! It may seem kind of bad, but I still really like it, so I'm publishing it! It's about thirteen front and back pages in my notebook, so it's still got a ways to go before it's completed. I hope you all enjoy it, and be on the lookout for part 2 soon!   
> Lots of love, Liv


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